What's on in Madrid, Spain through the year

Peak crowds — Christmas to Reyes, Christmas holidays in Spain

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Christmas to Reyes (1 Dec – 6 Jan)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in February.

Peak crowds — Semana Santa, Semana Santa (Easter) holidays in Spain

• Holiday

  Semana Santa

  29 Mar – 5 AprEaster & Holy WeekCrowded

  Processions cross the old centre from Jesus de Medinaceli and the Almudena, but half of Madrid drives out to the pueblos for the week, so the neighbourhood bars thin out even as the hotels fill. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Semana Santa, Semana Santa (Easter) holidays in Spain

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Semana Santa (29 Mar – 5 Apr)

Peak crowds — Feria de San Isidro, Las Ventas, Fiestas de San Isidro

• Festival

  Feria de San Isidro, Las Ventas

  5 May – 10 Jun · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  Las Ventas runs a card almost every evening for a month, the longest bullfighting feria in Spain. It is the reason central hotel prices stay high through May whatever else is on. Source ↗

• Festival

  Fiestas de San Isidro

  7–17 MayMajor festivalCrowded

  Eleven days of free concerts and chotis dancing around the patron saint's day on 15 May, centred on the Pradera de San Isidro and Las Vistillas rather than the tourist streets. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Feria de San Isidro, Las Ventas, MADO, Madrid Pride

• Festival

  MADO, Madrid Pride

  26 Jun – 6 Jul · usuallyCrowdedBook early

  One of the largest Pride weeks in Europe: Chueca is closed to traffic for days and the Saturday march fills Gran Via and the Paseo del Prado. Book the centre months out or stay outside it. Source ↗

Still on: Feria de San Isidro, Las Ventas (5 May – 10 Jun (usually))

Peak crowds — MADO, Madrid Pride, Summer holidays in Spain

• Hazard

  Heatwave weeks

  1 Jul – 31 AugExtreme heat

  AEMET runs heat warnings for the Madrid region through most of high summer, and the city plans around them: sightseeing before noon, nothing outdoors between two and eight, terraces after dark. Source ↗

Still on: MADO, Madrid Pride (26 Jun – 6 Jul (usually))

Busy — Summer holidays in Spain, school holidays in 6 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Residents' holiday month

  1–31 AugSchool holidaysClosures

  Madrilenos leave for the coast and family kitchens shut for a fortnight. The verbenas of San Cayetano, San Lorenzo and La Paloma in La Latina and Lavapies, 6 to 15 August, are what is left.

Still on: Heatwave weeks (1 Jul – 31 Aug)

Busy — Summer holidays in Spain, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in September.

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in October.

Busy — La Almudena, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Holiday

  La Almudena

  9 NovMajor festivalClosures

  The city's own public holiday, with mass and a flower offering at the cathedral. Offices and many shops close; the museums do not. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Christmas to Reyes, Christmas holidays in Spain

• Holiday

  Christmas to Reyes

  1 Dec – 6 JanChristmas & New YearCrowded

  Lights on Gran Via from late November, stalls in Plaza Mayor, twelve grapes at Sol on the 31st and the Reyes cabalgata on 5 January. The centre is at its most crowded on the evenings before Christmas. Source ↗